In an interview with BBC East Midlands Today, Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca appealed his team’s fans for patience as he works to implement his system at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes have had a strong start to the season, winning six of their first seven league games.
Although their quick start was to be expected given the caliber of players at their disposal, they lost key players such as James Maddison and Harvey Barnes during the summer transfer window.
Summer commitment Conor Coady has also been out of action in the early stages of the season, which is unfortunate given how important he is expected to be this season and beyond.
Despite these losses, Leicester has performed admirably, with their sole competitive loss of the season coming at home against Hull City.
Although they were vulnerable in transition at times against the Tigers, with Liam Rosenior’s side having adequate chances to score multiple times, it could be argued that the Foxes deserved to win.
Cesare Casadei, Abdul Fatawu, and Stephy Mavididi all made an impact for Maresca’s side once their substitutes came on.
Fatawu even hit the post, but they were unable to win a point in the end, and Hull might probably consider themselves fortunate to have come away with three points.
Message from Enzo Maresca to Leicester City fans
Even though their supporters will be pleased with the Foxes’ start to the season, with the club presently second in the Championship and a chance to go top today, they will also have concerns and complaints.
Maresca’s style of play is still being implemented at the King Power, and with his team opting against playing direct football, some fans may become frustrated in the future games, especially if results start to go against them.
“(I would like the supporters) to be patient, because I can understand that sometimes they prefer to be more straight, direct, and long ball,” said the Foxes’ manager.
“But that is not how we want to play.” Yes, if we understand that by playing direct, we can create opportunities and be dangerous.
“But it’s not our identity or style, so all I can say is make an effort to understand how we want to play and stick with it because we need them.” And we will certainly attain our goal if people are patient.”
Is Enzo Maresca correct in sending this message to Leicester City fans?
Despite the fact that fans are the paying customers, Maresca has every right to make this request because it may help to bridge the gap between him and those supporters who are skeptical of their style of play.
When Jaap Stam was at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, he wanted his side to play out from the back, and Leicester’s 2023/24 roster is similar.
There were groans from supporters and cries to move it forward, but they ended up making the play-offs and, to some part, silencing those fans.
As long as Maresca continues to produce results with his current approach, more and more people will join him, and you have the impression that he has the vast majority of the fanbase on his side.
The main goal is to return to the Premier League, and fans won’t care how they do it.
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